Q and A
by Fae 206
Summary: When a magazine editor wants to learn more about Ren, Lory knows that the only way of saving him is to provide the information himself before they investigate. His way of doing this? A LOVE ME assignment. With Kyoko now tasked to ask her sempai numerous questions, what will she discover about Ren, the actor, Corn, the fairy prince, and Kuon, the mystery. Flashbacks Included.
1. Chapter 0 - The Letter

**AN:** I have a lot going on in my life right now that is causing me to not want to work on many of my Skip Beat fics because they have too many moving pieces so I'm going to work on one fic, this fic, until school ends and I only have to think about work and not working 30+ hours and going to school and homework another 30 hours. I really do hope that you enjoy this fic though since it's something that I've been thinking of for a while. 😊

 **Q and A**

 **Chapter 0 – The Letter**

Lory Takarada sighed as he ran a hand over the turban that was covering his hair. His garb for the day was that of a Middle Eastern snake charmer. It was something that he did love because he got to play with his snake. However, what he saw in front of him was something that he was not fond of. It was a letter in a plain envelope from one of the top magazine companies:

 _Takarada-sama,_

 _We hate to act as if we are serving you a threat but please give us new information on the subject of Tsuruga Ren. We feel that it is in both of our best interests to promote your actor before he begins to stale like rotting bread and enamel cheese. If we are unable to learn about your human products, we may have to do our own investigations of the subject._

Lory had to admit that he liked the way that the magazine editor had written that letter with a comedic touch to it, it at least showed a bit of personality behind it. However, he wouldn't want them to get too involved with Ren's life and he definitely didn't want anyone else to report in big letters that Ren Tsuruga was only a stage name.

Ren would never answer these questions to him and whereas he could write the answers himself, that might backfire if there was ever a day when Ren Tsuruga was laid to rest and Kuon Hizuri acted in front of the camera instead. He would have to think up something. He would have to find a plan…a very interesting and entertaining plan perhaps.

Lory picked up the phone and dialed the extension for Sawara, "Hi, it's me," he said with a smile. "Is Kyoko-san in? I have a personal request to make of her. A test for the Love Me section?" Lory smiled.

How he would feel to _that girl_ asking questions would be a different matter and now that he knew that the two of them liked one another, well, imagine all the ways that fate would bring them together and who knew how sharp Cupid's arrows would be.

 **End of Chapter 0**

 **Thank you for reading**


	2. Chapter 1 - What Is Your Name?

**AN:** Since this fic explores early Ren Tsuruga, I might be playing around with canon in ways it was never intended to be so this is more of my own canon mixed with established manga details. I hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter One – What is Your Name?**

Kyoko looked nervously at the president as he opened a folder. She didn't look forward to Love Me assignments that much anymore because the president had seemed to focus on her love for Ren. She didn't want to argue against it and she didn't want to seem ungrateful but she could never really breathe in front of the man anymore.

"So, I want you to fill out some papers for one of our senior actors," Lory said as he looked at Kyoko and the girl smiled softly. So it was for someone older? Well, that was good. Hopefully they wouldn't judge her for having a crush on her senior coworker.

"Okay," Kyoko nodded, "I'll do my best to complete everything for them. I'll be honored to -"

"It's Ren," Lory told her as he watched her and Kyoko froze. She looked at him and blinked as he smiled, "You need to ask Ren these questions and fill in the answers. It'll be good for you to know some more in depth information for him."

"Can't Tsuruga-san fill out the form himself?" Kyoko asked as Lory handed her multiple pages, "I mean, I can't imagine Tsuruga-san unable to find time or discipline to fill out some questions. I'd be happy to give him the papers if -"

"That's no fun," Lory pouted, "I don't think that Ren would be honest if he just filled them out and he never fills out a lot of information. I need somebody to open him up, dig deep into that firm coating that he has on. Are you saying that you're unable to talk to him?"

"That's not -" Kyoko said quickly, "That wouldn't be - I can talk to him," she bowed her head as she tried to hide the blush from the president. She was nervous about what she would find out. Maybe he had some bad habit or some annoying personality trait that would make her desire to be with him cool down a little bit. She was scared of finding more ways to get to love him and to make her dream of him even more.

She would try to process this information and then she would ask him the questions. She didn't have to do it today.

There was a knock on the door and Kyoko's back straightened.

"Ah, so you get to start your assignment now," Lory said as he saw Ruto open the door and Ren walked in. He looked surprised as he turned to Kyoko.

"Mogami-san," he said before shooting a look at Lory as if to ask what his secret plan was. He went over and sat down next to Kyoko as she avoided eye contact with him. He tilted his head as he studied her. "Is everything alright, Mogami-san?" he asked before seeing her looking at the floor uncomfortably and gave a disapproving look to the president.

"I didn't do anything to her," Lory smiled as Kyoko quickly looked at him and then looked down.

"I hope that I didn't do anything that upset you, Mogami-san," Ren said as he looked at her and Kyoko shook her head. He looked up at Lory confused before turning so he was sitting at an angle to them. "So, is there a reason that the two of us have been asked here together?"

"Ren, would you agree to help Kyoko here with an assignment for the Love Me section?" Lory asked and Ren looked at Kyoko.

"Sure, I mean if there's anything that I can help you with, Mogami-san," he said politely and Kyoko nodded her head. "It's been a while since the two of us were working together on a project. I do have some free time in my schedule and you helped me a lot with my secret mission. I'd love to help."

Kyoko looked down at the papers in her hands. Didn't he understand what his presence here did to her?

"What is your name?" Kyoko asked as she read the top question on the papers and Ren raised an eyebrow as he studied her.

"What?" he asked before shooting a quick look at the president. He hoped that nothing had happened which would have brought the mention of Kuon up. "Tsuruga Ren," he said firmly as Kyoko looked down. Of course, he wouldn't respond with his real name. She wasn't anyone special in his life. He wouldn't just give that information out freely. She looked at the questions before freezing.

"What is your real name?" she asked and Ren looked at the paper before putting a hand on the side of his neck.

"Can we just go with Tsuruga Ren?" he asked awkwardly. Kyoko noticed his discomfort? Was he really thinking that his name was that uncool that he would keep it under lock and key all of his life? She couldn't help but think that it was something nerdy and that it wouldn't suit him at all, the kind of name that even if someone was popular would still never be made cool.

…

…

 _The fifteen year old looked up at the man opposite him as he held onto his passport, the only possession he had with him other than the clothes on his back and a wad of money in his pocket. He kept seeing his father's face in his head. His dad was battling with how bad this would look on his acting career and his professional reputation. Until people forgot of his existence, he would be that ugly black spot on Kuu Hizuri's name. He felt that they wouldn't forgive him for what he had done. He gripped tightly to the watch he was wearing, Rick's watch. He had hurt Rick and caused the blood to flow out._

" _Are you listening to me?" Lory asked as he snapped his fingers in front of Kuon's face._

" _Uh, yeah, yeah," Kuon nodded as he tried not to fall too deeply into his memories. He needed to focus on what he could do and on moving forwards. Everyone had tried to tell him that. Somehow he had felt that the air might feel a bit different if he was to go to a new life._

 _He wanted to act. He wanted to stand in a place free of shadows. He wanted to pursue a life that could be called his own, the type of life that he had thought he would have as a young child._

" _You can't be Hizuri Kuon any more so is there a name that you want to use?" Lory asked and Kuon stared at him before looking down, he opened his mouth and Lory sighed, "You're not allowed to use the name Rick either. I don't want anything that could be connected to your life here."_

" _I don't…" Kuon said quietly before bowing his head and shaking it._

" _You like birds don't you?" Lory asked as Kuon looked at him, he nodded stiffly and Lory smiled. "I do remember those times when you used to come visit me in Japan you know. I had hoped that I could have spent more time with your family but it's hard to be the president of an agency and I know that Shuuhei has always been busy." Lory hummed, "Shuu….Tsu…" he said as Kuon leaned forwards just studying him and waiting for him to finish with what he was saying._

" _I like that, that Tsuu, it's got that small connection to Hizuri but it's so insignificant to an outsider that they wouldn't notice. Tsumaki. Tsuda. I know," Lory smiled, "Tsuruga."_

" _Isn't that a city?" Kuon asked a little surprised, "Like in that poem that Dad loves?"_

" _Just so you know, it's a city that is known for its trade relations with the United States. It has hot summers and cold winters and that's a bit like your personality. What goes well with Tsuruga?" he asked before smiling, "Ren, that's a good name. There's your connection. You're like a sparrow who is drifting between the United States and Japan so you can fly freely with both. Tsuruga Ren."_

" _Tsuruga Ren," Kuon said slowly, doubting whether this would even work. If he couldn't become an actor in his home country how could he become an actor in Japan? Was he just going to return home as a failure to his parents._

" _Good, we can write that down and you commit it to memory. Your name is Tsuruga Ren. Next we have to meet with my sweetheart and have some contracts signed up so you can really become Tsuruga Ren."_

 _Kuon watched him awkwardly before nodding feeling a bit self-conscious. "Hello, I'm Tsuruga Ren," he tried out before looking down not sure whether he had actually made the right choice or not._

…..

…..

"We can go with Tsuruga Ren, of course," Kyoko said before bowing as she saw Ren looking at her with a weak smile. She wrote it down on the paper, not noticing that the president was slowly stepping out of the room to give them privacy. "So, what made you want to have a stage name?" Kyoko asked as she looked at the questions and saw Ren sitting there with the same strained smile that she had seen him give when she was Bo.

"It's funny that I don't give my real name, isn't it?" he asked and Kyoko sat up straighter and looked at him.

"No, lots of people give a stage name, you told me it was about half and half. I mean, if there's something that you're trying to run from or that you don't like your name. I respect you so much, Tsuruga-san," she said quickly not wanting to see him upset. Kyoko stood up and moved in front of him.

"Tsuruga-san, whatever your name is and if you ever choose to reveal it, it won't change my mind about you. I will still consider you my treasured sempai no matter how unoriginal or plain your name is. I'm sure that even if it's a name like Benjiro or Aiko, you'll make it cool," she said before bowing and saw him laugh at that.

"You think my real name is Aiko?" he asked her and Kyoko paled. She really hoped that it wasn't but she'd stick with what she had just told him. "I can guarantee you, Mogami-san, that my name isn't Aiko."

Kyoko smiled, "Tsuruga-san," she said as she moved to sit down opposite him with the papers. "Even if your name is Shotaro, you're still my teacher and I won't lose respect."

"Fuwa's full name is Shotaro?" Ren laughed before shaking his head, "Don't worry, I won't say anything to him. That's your secret ammunition, right?" he asked before sighing. "My real name is just very personal, there are some hurdles I have to jump over before I tell anybody it."

"Okay, so the next question is your birthday," Kyoko said and Ren looked away as she said that. "I know that," she said proudly, "February 10th."

"Yes," Ren nodded, "Tsuruga Ren's birthday is February 10th." Kyoko stared at him confused by how he had said that. She wasn't sure how to respond to that. He had just spoken in third person. She opened her mouth to say something before writing down the date.

She watched him as he looked away from her.

…..

…

" _So, what is it that you wanted to talk about this time? I put you in the celebrity directory and Yashiro has said that your anger seems to have settled. He says you are very distant and not a very sociable person but you put enormous effort into your work and you are extremely talented," Lory said as Ren stared at him._

" _We've always said that my birthday isn't something that people should know because they might link it with Kuu's son," Ren said as he pointed to the date in the directory._

" _I think that you're being overly cautious with this," Lory said, "Two people can share the same birthday, it's not going to be something that people use to track you down." He looked at the seventeen year old in front of him and sighed. "Don't you want birthday presents and for people to wish you a happy birthday?"_

" _That isn't important to me," Ren said, "What is important to me is keeping my distance from Kuon. I've been working all of these years to keep this distance and…and just pick another date for my birthday."_

" _Only if we can keep it in the same month, you at least deserve some recognition for staying alive," Lory said as his eyes went to the watch that Ren continued to wear._

" _Fine, just not February 19_ _th_ _," Ren said and Lory hummed._

" _Let's say that was an error and that it's actually on the tenth of the month," he said and Ren sighed._

" _Fine, it's on the tenth," he said before walking out of the office._

 **End of Chapter One**

 **Thank you for Reading**

 **Thank you reviewers of intro**

Crazy4Animation: I hope that I didn't disappoint with it

EmmaLasagna: Hope that you enjoyed it

Erza: Definitely helpful and hope you enjoyed this chapter

Megumitasama: I took longer than I expected to update but hope it makes up for it

Paulagato: Still working on my classes but I'm getting there 😊


	3. Chapter 2 - Family Trees

**AN:** Again, I feel that I have to mention the liberties that I take when it comes to fanfiction and that some of this stuff is probably incorrect but I still hope you enjoy it. I hope that the next chapter has Ren in it in present day with him interacting with Kyoko but I doubt it. I haven't seen any raws or scans so far this morning.

 **Chapter Two – Family Trees**

Ren shifted as he looked at Kyoko whilst she read over the questions to herself. He had trouble answering them for obvious reasons, but now he was worried about her feeling bad about him not being direct with her. He sighed, she had made sure that the Heel sibling identities were well guarded, maybe he just wasn't giving her enough credit.

He sighed as he leaned forwards and looked at her, "Mogami-san, are you sure that we have to fill in these questions? Can't we just copy and paste what is already written of me? I don't really like being -"

"Am I doing it wrong Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko asked as she looked at him and Ren softened in his expression. It wasn't her fault that he had such a long and intricate background. He sighed and shook his head.

"Not at all," he replied

"And if this is about my asking what your real name is then I'm sorry, I really was just -"

"I'm not mad," Ren said with a kind laugh as he looked down uneasily.

Kyoko nodded before going onto the next question, "Oh, is it okay if I ask this?" she said as she looked at Ren and Ren noted that she was shaking with excitement so it must be something that he never told her. He really wondered whether this room was designed to put pressure on him and force him to tell her things that he had been hiding from her. He tilted his head to the side.

"Well, Mogami-san, isn't it your job to ask me the questions on that paper?" he asked and Kyoko nodded, "So wouldn't the president make it easier on you if you just asked me those questions," he tried to smile and Kyoko looked at him before reading the paper.

"What are your parents' occupations?" she asked as Ren paled.

"I don't want that information listed," he said as Kyoko looked down disappointed. Ren felt a pain in his chest as he saw how her excitement level had gone from one-hundred to zero. He stared at the ground, "If I tell you will you promise to not include it?" he asked her and Kyoko smiled but leaned forwards.

"Tsuruga-san, if you're really not comfortable with telling me then I understand. I know that I'm just a junior actor and if your parents are from a low income," Ren laughed at that, "okay, maybe your parents are very high income but you don't want to rely on their wealth. Whatever it is, if you don't want to tell me then I apologize for my nosiness."

"No, it's….it's okay. My parents both do acting work," he told her as Kyoko's eyes lit up and she looked at him even more excited. Ren always found it adorable how when she was really excited about something, her eyes would go as big as saucer plates. He took another breath in. "My parents have been acting since before I was born, they met on set, but my mother is a famous model as well."

Kyoko looked at him as she leaned in closer, "Wow, your parents had those kinds of jobs. Wait," she tried hard not to shake too much with the joy she was learning from this, "When you helped me as Natsu, were you thinking about your mother. You called her the most beautiful woman in the world."

"You're right," Ren nodded, "I was thinking of her. I always loved going to her runway shows when I was younger but it's not cool for a middle schooler to be around models all the time, high school, you bet, but middle school not really."

"I've never heard of a model with the last name Tsuruga," Kyoko commented and Ren coughed at that, "Is she international?"

"No, she's…my family name isn't Tsuruga," he told her and Kyoko paused. She turned to him and blinked. What did he just say?

…..

…..

 _The fourteen-year-old sat at the grand piano in the living room as he wore the designer suit that his mother had found for a great price and in his size. His parents were always surrounded by friends and Kuon didn't understand why he had such a hard time connecting with people and making those bonds. He had Rick, but even Tina thought that he was weird. The people who attacked his acting skills and his heritage were forcing him to dislike human interaction. Most human were monsters underneath their skin._

 _Kuon's eyes lifted to his father as he raised his glass and looked at his mother. They would always do this. They would always have these grand parties to celebrate their anniversary. When he was younger, he would always get excited about their anniversary and ask questions about it and their wedding. His parents thought he was cute._

 _They hadn't even really noticed that he hadn't moved all night. They didn't notice that behind this eerily calm expression he was feeling tortured. Maybe if they had noticed, they had brushed it off thinking that it was his breakup with one of his girlfriends that caused him to be this way. Did they even care about him?_

" _So many years ago," Kuu said as Kuon took that moment to move to the doorway of the room. "I met this wonderful woman. She is a talented actress and her modelling can not be beaten. She is the most wonderful woman in the world and I see her as even more wonderful that she was able to put up with me all of these years." Kuon snuck out of the room, taking a quick glance to make sure that nobody noticed him. They would never notice him._

 _He took a few breaths before hearing it, "Out of all the wonderful things that my wife has given me, an acting partner who matches me in every scene, a successful model, a dazzling star, the best gift that she has given me is her love. A love that I will forever feel lucky enough to treasure."_

" _Great, Dad" Kuon said as he rolled his eyes. "Once again you forget that you even have a son."_

…

…

Ren steadied himself as he drifted back from his memory and managed to catch the last few praises that Kyoko made towards his family's careers. He stood and walked to the window as she watched him. She looked down and fell into another bow.

"Tsuruga-san," she said quickly, "If there is anything wrong then I'm sorry. I know that I'm not worthy of helping you with all the troubles that you face but if there is anything at all that I can do or help you with, I'd really like to." Kyoko looked at the ground. She didn't want to admit to being Bo but she really wished that she was wearing that rooster costume right now, Ren had always been able to confide in Bo.

"It's hard, I haven't seen my mother for years and my father I've only seen briefly in the past five or six years," Ren said as he exhaled feeling the pain in his chest.

"Is that so?" Kyoko asked. She didn't want to talk about how she had never met her father and how she had only met with her mother briefly after she had disowned her on national television. She didn't want to say how she had never been lucky enough to grow up with a happy family in a happy home. This was all about Ren and she wanted Ren to feel better.

"Should we continue with the questions?" Ren asked with a gentleman's smile as he came to sit down opposite her again. "You'll get told off for not doing your assignment if you don't ask," he said and Kyoko bowed again before sitting.

"Okay, the next question is, do you have any siblings?" she asked and Ren stared at her with a blank expression.

"The president wrote these questions?" he asked and Kyoko paused as she looked at them.

"I think that he did. Why?" she asked and Ren looked down.

"Because he'd know more than I would whether I have any siblings or not. I don't think I do, I think that he would have told me if I did but I haven't seen my mother for a long time and although my father never said anything about it, I didn't talk to him for a very long time." Ren bowed his head with a sigh. "I don't think I do."

"I'm sure that somebody would have told you if you had a sibling," Kyoko said softly as she saw his depression. "I mean, if the president knew then -"

"Kuon, but don't write that down," Ren said as he looked at her and Kyoko tilted her head to the side with a confused smile.

"You have a younger or maybe an older brother named Kuon?" Kyoko asked and Ren looked at her, his eyes showing how much trust he had in her as he made a weak 'heh' and his eyes went down onto the floor. He was surprised in himself that that had come out but he had to explain it now.

"No, I don't think I have a brother," Ren said before he stared at her. "That's my real name, or my first name anyway but in this country only the president knows it."

Kyoko sat there in silence as she looked at him. She had to admit that that was a very powerful name that would draw a lot of attention. Whereas Shotaro had an old fashioned name, Kyoko had to admit that the name Kuon was even cooler sounding than Ren. It definitely fit him more than any of the names that she was imagining him to have.

"That's just like Kuu-sama's son's name," Kyoko told him, "That's so cool that the two of you share the same name. Am I allowed to call you that?" she asked before seeing his body tense and Kyoko's face turned bright red. "No. I won't call you that. That would be a really bad thing, I shouldn't feel so much pride to call you by your first name. I'm sorry, I'll keep calling you Tsuruga-san until the day that I die."

Ren laughed, "You don't need to go to that extreme but I'd like for only the two of you to know," he said as Kyoko paused, "You and the president."

Kyoko put a hand on her heart, "Don't worry, Tsuruga-san, your secret is safe with me," she promised.

….

….

Inside of Kyoko's mind, the grudges were hard at work with the pictures of Corn and Ren still being displayed to show the similarities between them. One of the grudges looked at the pictures and sighed, "How come Boss doesn't get it?" they asked, "With this new clue it's even more obvious that the two of them are the same person. Is Boss really convinced that because of fairy magic she didn't see what he truly looked like."

"And think about it, sometimes people don't hear things correctly," another grudge said as she pointed to the picture of Corn that had been seen in Guam. "His name isn't Corn, it's Kuon. The two of them are definitely the same person, how can Boss just accept them as different."

"I think she's still convinced that Corn used fairy magic. I mean, she's irrational to say the least," another grudge said as the first grudge looked at the pictures.

"We need to convince Boss that both of these people are Kuon Hizuri before she goes even deeper into denial. He pretty much confessed it to her." The first grudge said, "We need to get those cogs working in her brain."

"Yes, ma'am," the majority of the other grudges said as they set off to do their work.

 **End of Chapter Two**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to those who reviewed Chapter One**

Ashenvale: Well, he's starting to open up

Brennakai: I was thinking that too, especially with how he reacts when Kyoko gets the date wrong in the manga. I don't know whether he would have shared his birthday with her as Corn but he might have and she might have that in her subconscious.

Crazy4Animation: Well, Kuon's been trapped but Kyoko is still dense 😊

EmmaLasagna: Glad you like it 😊

Kotoko-98: I hope it continues to be interesting 😊

Megumitasama: Well let's see how well these two get to know one another


	4. Chapter 3 - THAT Kuon?

**AN:** Thank you for your patience when it came to this update 😊 I'm very appreciative of that. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and I might be tweaking canon here so hopefully you won't mind that 😉

 **Chapter Three – THAT Kuon!?**

Kyoko looked down at the paper in front of her and smiled at in conflicted, since Ren…Kuon…Ren had told her so many things that she had promised to not record, there wasn't much of originality on this piece of paper. However, that meant that the man in front of her was telling her things that he might never have told anyone else in Japan. He had put trust in her and as a Ren Tsuruga disciple it was nice that she could understand that trust.

"So, I think this part might be good," she said as she looked down at the next question. "What are your dislikes?" she looked at the two questions and paused, why was dislikes first rather than likes, it was usually the other way around right? Maybe the president had asked her to ask that first because it could be explained by the first question.

"Food but let's say culinary arts," Ren smiled as he looked at her and Kyoko rolled her eyes.

"I thought that you were going to say that but I also though that you'd made progress with your food videos," she told him and Ren grinned at that.

"That's because I'm a master at creating long lasting illusions," he winked to her and Kyoko laughed, she was having fun with this. She usually couldn't talk to Tsuruga-san on his level without acting and she would never have expected for this to happen without the questions in front of her. She wanted to tell him her feelings for him but she didn't want to cause him trouble or make him think that she was a loose woman.

"So, food and…." Kyoko said as she tapped the paper.

"I'm not a fan of opera," Ren said honestly before Kyoko looked at him, she hadn't known that. She had always imagined Ren to be part of high class society and the high class society that she had thought of had included people wearing wigs and monocles and going to see the opera and the ballet each week.

"What about opera singers?" Kyoko asked and Ren smiled.

"I'm a fan of anyone who is truly dedicated to their work," he told her before sighing, "My mother was friends with a few people who worked with the Los Angeles Opera and I was around them when I was a small boy. They…well they always thought that any person who wanted to be a star should learn how to sing."

"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko asked as Ren smiled, "Are you originally from Los Angeles?" she asked and Ren paled a little. He hadn't been thinking and that nugget of information had come out without him realizing it. He looked at the ground before realizing he hadn't said anything.

"Do you… _think_ that I'm from Los Angeles?" he asked her and Kyoko looked at him. The options were limited of course but either Kuon had been born and raised in Los Angeles, had spent some time growing up there, or the opera singers had all come collectively to where Kuon was born and raised. Her feelings gravitated to the first one especially with how she remembered Bo's first conversation with Ren.

"I'm sure that you're a citizen," Kyoko said and Ren raised an eyebrow.

"You mean…a Japanese citizen?" he asked her and Kyoko nodded before seeing Ren sigh, "I _am_ a little Japanese," he admitted, "but I'm here on a work visa that the president secured for me. I'm allowed to work here as long as I'm considered a valuable asset to LME but I don't want people to think of me as American. I mean, my dad's got Japanese blood but I'm…."

Kyoko stared at him without saying anything. After a long pause she nodded and looked down at her lap where she had written only two words which were 'food' and 'opera.' "I promise that I won't tell anyone this information, but it must have been hard growing up with your birth name in America," she said and Ren smiled.

"I have to admit, I really do like my birth name though," he said and Kyoko looked at him. She had to admit that she liked it too, having played Kuu's son named Kuon made the name a bit more special to her. She wondered how Kuu would feel if he ever found out Ren's actual name, maybe it would make Kuu like Ren even more. She just wondered what had happened to the other Kuon, the one who was Kuu's son….who was born in America near Hollywood.

"What are you thinking about, Mogami-san?" Ren asked as he tilted his head to the side trying to study her, he hadn't realized how hard it was to withhold information from her. Maybe coming into this room was a mistake that would lead to his life changing for the worse.

"Why do you hate food, Tsuruga-san?" she asked him as she leaned forwards.

"I have digestion issues," Ren told her and Kyoko continued to look at him. She wanted to know his reaction to her next question because right now he seemed to be very similar to what Kuu had told her about his son.

"No trauma from family dinners?" she asked him and Ren looked at her.

"No, my family and I got along rather well when I was young. I mean, my mother used to try to stuff my face with foo-" he said as he saw Kyoko jump to her feet and point at him whilst shaking. Had he just trodden on a landmine here?

"You're….you're not just…a Kuon," Kyoko said in complete shock, "You're _the_ Kuon."

"Crap," Ren said as he stared at her. Yep, he had just trodden on a landmine.

…..

…

 _Kuon was seven and playing with a remote control car that Kuu had bought him, it was supposed to be one of the best toys that a kid could play with and Kuon had to admit that it was pretty neat. He loved cars and it was for more than the fact that his dad loved cars. Although whenever he had been scared as a tiny kid, his dad had helped motivate him and keep his confidence up, sometimes he didn't see his father for weeks. His dad had called it shooting on location and so Kuon had tried to feel pride that his father had such an important acting job._

" _Aww, he looks so much like him," a tall Russian woman smiled as she watched Kuon and he stopped playing and put the remote down beside him. "Oh no, honey, you can play with your little toy," she said before putting a hand on Julie's arm._

" _Kuon, you don't have to hide, darling," Julie said as she came over to him and pulled out a handkerchief to get some dirt off of his cheek. "Don't you think that he's just adorable," Julie smiled as another Russian woman came to them, this woman was half Russian and half American like Julie was._

" _What's his range like, Jules?" the woman said as she held her cigarette out to the side._

 _Kuon wondered why cigarettes were always so readily available for their guests. When he had gone to other people's houses, they hadn't had them there. He knew that his dad didn't like it despite having grown up in Japan where many people smoked, he always said that he was worried about Kuon getting to them but Julie said they were stress relieving for her friends._

" _I don't think he's cut out to be a singer," the first woman said and Julie pulled Kuon into her chest._

" _It's never too late to learn. A true star would emote how he feels in song whilst following after you as a model. I think that his father is ruining him too much with this acting business," the second woman commented and Kuon looked down._

" _I want to be like Dad and be an actor," he told them and the two women laughed together._

" _Wasting a gift, just like his father," they commented and Julie hugged her son closer._

" _That's what I love about him. He is so much like his wonderful father."_

…

…

Kyoko looked at Ren who was staring at her without really saying anything. Kyoko knew that her cheeks were probably a deep red but she also felt that she had dug up a treasure chest. She also understood that it was something that he had _never_ wanted anyone to know. She looked at him again and her mind started to tie up in knots which were starting to make her dizzy.

"You're Kuon Hizuri," she pointed at him and Ren looked at her.

"No, I'm not," he said quickly and continued to look into her eyes, the two of them never breaking eye contact. Kyoko wondered if Ren was actually trying to brainwash her and make her believe that the truth that she had just uncovered wasn't actually truth of any kind.

"It makes sense that you are," Kyoko told him and Ren looked back and forth.

"No it doesn't," he told her, "I'm not…." He saw the way that she was looking at him and then sighed, pushing his hair back. "How convinced are you that I'm Kuon Hizuri?" he asked her and Kyoko stood there with a weak smile.

"Nearly one hundred percent," she replied and Ren sighed.

"Do you think that you can keep it a secret or do I have to get worried about you?" Ren asked as he looked at her and Kyoko shifted.

"I would never tell a single soul your secret, not if they were going to torture me or make me walk the plank or anything. I promise to take this secret to my grave. I will not let anyone interrogate me, but that's…that's really cool that Kuu is your father," she said with her grin showing how excited she really was. "I'd love for him to be _my_ father, but the two of you didn't talk very much…but his reaction when I talked about you makes sense if…"

"There was something that happened before I came to Japan. A very private incident that estranged me and my family," Ren said as he looked at her and Kyoko sat down with a puzzled look on her face. "Is it okay if I don't go into depths about that particular moment in my life."

"Is it to do with the watch?" Kyoko asked and Ren's body stiffened, "I'm so so sorry," she apologized, "That's really none of my business and you've already told me so much about you that you weren't planning on. I'm sorry for being nosey. I'm sorry for asking too many personal que-"

"Yes, it is. It's to do with why the hands stopped turning," Ren said as he took another deep breath in. "Maybe one day I'll explain it to you. However, would you like to hear one more of my secrets?" he asked her. "I promised myself I'd tell it to you if there was ever a day when you found out who I was."

Kyoko looked at him, she closed her eyes and exhaled. She wanted to know anything that he wanted to share with her and she would never tell anyone his secrets but she was worried now, worried that she would dig too far and hit a gas line and then they would both implode or explode together. She nodded slowly and gave a small smile, "Of course."

"I love you," Ren told her and Kyoko paled, "It's okay if you don't return my emotions but I thought it was time to tell you the truth. I'm in love with you, Kyoko"

"What?" Kyoko asked staring at him blankly, "What did you just say?"

 **End of Chapter Three**

 **Thank you for reading**

Brennakai: I love the grudges too 😊 and I have a lot of inner thoughts about this series

Ju: Yep, too many questions left unanswered and I have used different situations between him and his parents in different fics but I really want the manga to show me more of it 😊

Kotoko-98: Glad you thought it was funny 😊

Nanay 19: I hope to update faster in the future and thank you for your wonderful review 😊

Paulagato: Hopefully that was fast enough for you 😉


	5. Chapter 4 - No Response Recorded

**AN:** Sorry about the delay in uploads, I'm trying to see which fics people want to see most with a new poll on my profile so please check it out if you have time 😊 I read a really great Skip Beat fic this week, "Forgive Me" and was reminded of how much more beautiful that fic is than this chapter 😊 definitely check it out. Anyway, I really hope that you do enjoy.

 **Chapter Four – No Response Recorded**

Kuon looked at her, not saying anything for a moment as he saw the color draw from her face. It was okay if she didn't return his feelings. He had already prepared himself to be turned down, it wouldn't be the first woman to turn him down although she might believe that. There had been moments with girls in his past who he had asked to a dance and they had told him they were going with somebody else. At least Kyoko wasn't going with somebody else, she just might not be ready to date anybody after what had happened with that man.

She blinked again and then raised a hand as if she were answering a teacher at school.

"Mogami-san?" he asked with a playful smile on his face and Kyoko stood up, dropping into a formal bow and Kuon couldn't help that he sucked his top lip in and released it slowly, remembering the time when he had told her about hickeys. "What are you doing?" he laughed as he tilted his head to the side and as Kyoko raised her head it had turned very red.

"You can't be that cruel to…to play with someone," she said and Kuon blinked. "You tell me that you're actually the mythologically lost son of the Hizuri dynasty," she said as Kuon's eyes widened from that, "As well as being the god of acting and you top it off with telling me you love…love…" she couldn't say it and seeing her fighting between getting angry and feeling overpowered by the shock was so cute.

"The lost son of the Hizuri dynasty?" he asked confused before sighing, "and a god? Mogami-san, I think that you're getting your facts a little bit confused." Kuon sighed. He knew that she probably wasn't ready to hear a reveal of his love for her yet but he hadn't been able to help himself, he had wanted to know how she would react even if she didn't reciprocate those emotions.

"No, I mean…this is…" she looked at him before sitting down, "I've never…I've never really been with anyone, not even with Sho. I…I don't know how to be….how to say those….I don't know how to say those words," she said as she dropped the questions on the floor and Kuon picked them up, putting them bedside him.

"You don't need to say anything," Kuon attempted to comfort her, "I just needed you to know that I am in love with you. I really need to apologize for dumping everything on you and then putting you on the spot like that," he apologized in a Ren Tsuruga manner. The emperor of the night was still inside him, wanting to draw her into him but he had to show her respect.

"I do need to say something," Kyoko said before looking down, "are you sure that…I don't want to be another one of a number of…."

"No," Kuon sighed, "Only you and….there's something else I could say that might help you to accept it," he told her before looking down and feeling a little nervous, "but it'd ruin your view of the world and it might destroy whatever we have between us," he sighed before rolling his eyes. It might be good to give her all of the information so she could make the _most_ informed decision.

"What is it?" she asked and he looked at her.

"We've kissed before," he told her and Kyoko blushed again.

She kept her eyes trained on the floor, trying to count the number of seconds of her inhale and the number of seconds of her exhale, "Before?" she asked him confused. "I…like the hickey or are you talking about before the Katsu-"

"Well," Kuon said honestly as he faced her, "I can't say that I actually kissed _you_ ," he said before humming. "There was a high priestess or something who was trying to take away the magic curse of sa-"

Kuon was about to continue but Kyoko stood. She wrapped an arm around her chest and with the other slapped him, tears flowing down her cheeks. She opened her mouth to say something before turning from the room. Kuon closed his eyes and sighed, feeling too guilty to go after her. He should have revealed each moment slowly, given her time to process all of it, now he had chased her off and frightened her.

They still had some time to finish the questionnaire but who knew _when_ it would be finished or if they would turn in the standard one again for another year in a row.

…

…

" _So," Julie grinned happily as she saw her husband and son come back from the trip to Kyoto, "Hi, darling," she said to Kuu as she kissed his cheek before turning to her ten-year-old son. "So, how was it? Did you have fun?" she asked and Kuon looked at her and nodded without saying anything._

" _We saw a lot of Japan, I think that must have sparked an interest, right?" he asked trying to get Kuon to open up and the ten-year-old nodded again with a soft smile hiding his inner pain. "I mean, Japan is always going to be important to me. It's the land of my birth. It was great shari—"_

" _Dad, I'm a little tired from the trip," Kuon told him and Kuu paused, sharing a look with Julie._

" _We could make dinner," she said and Kuon shook his head quickly._

" _I ate on the plane," he said before lifting up his bag. "I'm going to go and unpack. Dad says that you've got a runway tonight," he said and Julie nodded. She looked at her son not sure how to ask if he was okay. He looked tired and she was hoping it was the jetlag. There were some rumors about some abusive directors from other people she had worked with but she would know if that had been happening to her own son._

" _Yes, that's right, did you want to come?" she asked hopefully and Kuon shook his head._

" _No, but I know you'll be great," he told her._

 _Kuon took his bag to his room and then looked towards the window in his room where he had his rocks and precious stone collection. Was this a dumb thing for him to collect? He had the money to collect other things and yet, these gems seemed so much more worthy of being collected._

 _He picked one of them up and held it in the light just as he had shown Kyoko how to do. He smiled as he heard her applause in his head, saw the grin that lit up her face, heard her encouraging words. He had only known her for a little time but he had saved her the pain of her own life. He had given her a reason to be happy. Maybe he had even changed her life, who knows._

 _He had just found that little by little he could make other people happy. He had to treasure that memory because enduring pain didn't mean you had to give it to someone else. You could take that pain and transform it into fairy magic._

…..

…..

It was over twenty-four hours later and his cheek still stung. Maybe it was the fact that he had tried to give her space, hoping that she would call him that made it sting more. She hadn't called. He hadn't heard any more about that question and answer sheet and he hadn't seen her all day. He had often gone days, sometimes even a week or so without having seen or heard her but this was different. He had dropped a bomb on her lap and she might have thrown it back at him and blown up all chance he had.

He stopped the car by his apartment building although he almost crashed it into a wall as he saw who was waiting for him. He took slow breaths before getting out of the car and looked at her. "Moga-"

"Kyoko," Kyoko said as she looked him up and down and then bowed her head, "I don't know what to call you but I know that I want you to call me Kyoko."

"Kyoko-san?" Ren shrugged and Kyoko gave him a teasing glare. "Look, I am sorry about what I said. Maybe I should have…do you want to come in?" he asked her.

Maybe she had just come here to tell him to leave her alone, that she didn't want any further contact with him and that he was nothing more than a liar and a scoundrel wanting to manipulate every situation in his vicinity to get everything that he wanted. He wouldn't hold it against her if that really was how she felt.

"Can we talk inside?" she asked before lifting up a bag, "I know that you might not feel like eating but these are from Taisho and Okami-san. I told them that I was coming here for a work assignment," she looked down. "I think Taisho thinks you want to marry me," she attempted to joke and Kuon sighed.

He didn't know whether or not to tell her that Taisho might be right about that part.

As they got up to his apartment and he let her in, he placed his hand on the wall and took a very deep breaths to steady himself. Maybe he could fight for her or at least her understanding. He wanted to be with her but he knew better than to force himself on a person. As he closed the door, he saw her put the food on the table and look over at him.

He would have to eat something for her tonight.

"Kyoko, I've made a lot of mistakes, I'm not perfect," Ren said as he approached the table and pulled out the chair for her. "Would you like some tea?" he asked as the two of them made eye contact and Ren sighed. Maybe it was better for him to do this face to face. He needed to have her understand what was going on, "Did you want to continue the questionnaire?" he asked her and she looked down.

"I…I'd like to but we need to talk, I don't want to be tricked," she said as she started playing with Princess Rosa who Ren had just noticed was around her neck. "I'm scared to say this, really, but Tsu—Hi—Kuon, I…"

"I'll be right back," Kuon said as he pressed a fingertip to his own lips and then returned with a contact lens case. "I need to speak to you as myself," he told her as Kyoko blinked but then as he reached to his eye and slowly pinched the contact, dropping it into the solution she realized why there had been the second contact case. He did the same with the other one and looked at her as she felt her breath get taken away.

It was as if she were drunk on something or had just come off a rollercoaster, when the image seems distorted and as if you're in the middle of seeing two different things. Seeing Ren…Kuon….Corn, this man in front of her with his brown hair and his chilling emerald eyes made the realization hurt even more.

"That's not fair," she told him with a soft moan as he looked at her confused.

"I thought that if you could actually see _me_ then it might make you more comfortable," he attempted to explain and Kyoko dropped her head.

"There's nothing comfortable about telling your treasured sempai that you're in love with him," Kyoko said as her whole body turned a deep red. "I love you," she whispered and looked into his eyes, "I lo—lo-love you," she told him again before almost passing out by his blinding smile.

She had a million questions to ask now, as did he.

 **End of Chapter Four**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you for the Chapter Three Reviews**

Ashenvale – Definitely 😊

Black'nwhitepanda – thank you 😊 hopefully the delay in her answering it wasn't too painful

Blue Sky of Love – definitely, more questions and answers never chapter though

Crazy4Animation – Now we know her reaction to everything 😉

Brennakai – glad you liked it, hope you liked her response as well 😊

Guest – Hope the wait wasn't too long

EmmaLasagna – 😊 yep, hope her response wasn't too painful

Kotoko-98 – They will open their hearts even more after this

Kris XD: but her reaction might not have been what he was hoping

Megumitamasama – sorry for the huge delay, yeah a month is a huge delay, thanks for your patience

Nanay19 – Glad you enjoyed it

Paulagato - 😊 but it might have been too much for her at that moment


	6. Chapter 5 - He Can Read Everything

**AN:** Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Believe it or not but this is actually my second most popular Skip Beat fic so thank you guys for showing your desire to see more of it.

 **Chapter Five – He Can Read Everything**

Kuon smiled as he got out of the shower that morning. He was glad that he had finally revealed who he was to Kyoko and she had seemed to accept it. It would definitely make it easier to tell the rest of Japan who he truly was. Still, with the early morning text that the president had woken him up with, Kuon wasn't sure what to do next. Within ten minutes he would have to fully commit himself to being Ren Tsuruga or else he might let himself down, let down his father who had done so much to keep his identity a secret and his mother who had endured lasting heartbreak.

The president wanted for him to continue his interview with Kyoko and Kuon could only assume that Kyoko had been sent the same text message. He didn't know how much to divulge to her. He wanted to tell _her_ everything but he definitely didn't want to tell the rest of Japan everything. This was so much more complicated than he had originally thought.

Seven minutes until he denied the existence of Kuon Hizuri, at least for now.

He rubbed the towel over his face again and reached for his contacts. He was glad that when he was Cain Heel he had left the contacts in whilst taking a shower. Who knows how she would have reacted seeing those piercing emerald eyes which turned a burnt sienna in the right light.

Five minutes, he could do this. Ten minutes was the most that he had allowed Kuon to come out lately and it was only through the love that he had for Kyoko that he had given himself that opportunity, allowed Kuon some freedom instead of having him on a metal chain attached to a cage. He stretched his arms up, doing some small exercises.

If he were going to date Kyoko then he was going to have to eat more and eating more meant that he might have to go to the gym. When he was younger he actually enjoyed going to the gym. Heck, before he was eighteen he liked exercising in public within Japan but then he got into dramas and movies and started to be recognized and he just didn't like that people would be staring at him.

Still, it was worth the sacrifice to be with Kyoko. Even eating was worth the sacrifice of being with Kyoko.

One minute. Kuon looked at his expression, zeroing in on his nose, his eyes, his general expression and counted the minute down. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

Okay, Ren Tsuruga was ready to start the day. He smiled his gentleman's smile and walked towards the bed to pick out his outfit. It was funny how quick he could go into his character. He was just worried about how Mogami-san, no Kyoko-chan, would react to the real person underneath the character.

…

…...

Kyoko looked at the president as he observed her, he hummed as he watched her before raising an eyebrow. "Am I thinking correctly about the status of your relationship?" he asked and Kyoko tensed. She looked him in the eyes and then said in a quiet voice.

"My relationship with who?" she asked and Lory frowned.

"Please don't play dumb, Kyoko. I know that stupidity is one of the traits that you are lacking and that is good for you but don't play dumb. You know that I'm asking about the state of your relationship with Ren," he told her and Kyoko smiled. She knew how to tackle this question ever since he said 'Ren'.

"I'm not in a relationship with Ren," she said and the president looked at her in complete bafflement, "No. I'm not in love with Ren." The president blinked as he stared at her in complete shock and Kyoko smiled. Was she really able to pull a fast one on the president? She had never been so proud and confident in her acting skills than she was at this very moment.

"So, you believe me?" she asked and he opened his mouth, having to pause before answering.

"I can't believe that he told you," he said and Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "That boy is being truly honest with you and I…you understand that if such a secret were to come out then…"

"How did you…know?" Kyoko asked slowly and the president looked at her before humming.

"Maybe you don't know," he said before rubbing his chin. "In other news, I know how well you took care of Shuuhei, or Kuu the last time he was here and he's got another trip planned. How would you feel about taking care of him again?"

"You mean to tell him that his son is in a relationship?" she asked before putting a hand over her mouth and Lory laughed.

"I knew it, I knew that you were in a relationship with him. I just never imagined that he would clue you in on who he was. Did you trap him or did he just tell you?" he asked before shaking his head. "That doesn't matter. Finally, that boy is understanding what it is to truly love somebody. I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Kyoko opened her mouth before looking down, "I…I…we met before as children, I think that if we hadn't met when he was ten, he might not have let me know but then he knew for a very long time about that. He just didn't choose to tell me."

Lory looked at her, "You met him as a child?" he asked and Kyoko nodded.

"Kuon didn't come to Japan often so the fact that the two of you have such a bond, well it is one of the famous relationship tropes in my romance games. I think that the story between the two of you will play out very interestingly," he said before hearing a knock on the door. "Well, of course he has to be early," he said and Kyoko blushed a deep red.

As Ren entered the office, he dropped down into a formal bow before them. "Takarada-san, Mogami-san," he began as Lory raised an eyebrow in watching him and Kyoko bowed her head so that he wouldn't be caught by how red her cheeks had become. "Good morning."

"Is that how you greet your girlfriend, Kuon," Lory said and Ren paused looking around.

"Uh, Ren," he pointed to himself and Lory sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.

"Okay," he said before turning towards him, "Is that how you greet your girlfriend, _Ren._ Most boyfriends would at least call their girlfriend by their first name. I know that you seem to think of Japanese people are more impersonal than Americans but the first name shows how you care about your love."

"Uh, yeah," Ren said shifting with a smile. He walked over to Kyoko and wrapped an arm around her as he sat down next to her. He kissed her cheek and her face reddened even more as she found it hard to breathe. Ren grinned, he'd definitely have to move slowly in his relationship with her.

"Well, since you two are getting so personal," Lory commented, "then I expect to see a very good article written about him," he said gesturing to Ren. "I don't want you to leave anything out that is printable," he said before moving his eyebrows up and down teasingly.

"Oh come on," Ren sighed, "I'm sure that she doesn't have to include everything printable. Kyoko-chan is a very modest girl, I wouldn't want to make her uncomfortable."

"Who is saying _what_ makes her uncomfortable," the president said to the two of them before leaving the room and Kyoko took out her notes. She blushed again and moved so that she could write on the table. She looked back at him with a smile.

"He pulled it out of me," she said, "You know what he's like."

"I do know what he's like," Ren smiled, "I've been dodging questions like that since I was a kid. So, I guess it's time to start on the questions and I don't know. I feel like I want to be honest with you but I don't want to be honest with the rest of Japan."

"Those were my thoughts so I thought that I'd write in a notebook and then we can translate it to paper on what the magazine should know," she looked at him before handing him a second notebook and a pen and Kuon blinked at the items. Why was she wanting for him to take them? Did she want for him to write some of the answers down?

"I was also thinking that since I get to interrogate you, it's not really fair. So to every question I ask you, you're allowed to ask me the same question and I have to reply honestly," she said and Ren tilted his head to the side as he watched her. He put the notebook down on the table. "It's really okay," Kyoko said quickly, "I want to share this information with you."

"And I'd love to hear it but I don't need to write it down," he said with a smile. "You're not the one being written about and I want to listen to whatever you want to tell me. I'll remember it and keep it safe, so writing it down isn't necessary," he smiled before catching sight of what was dangling around her neck. "You're wearing Princess Rosa again," he said before putting his thumb on his neck to gesture.

"Well, you gave her to me," she said with a grin, "I must seem like one of those stupid schoolgirls, wanting to wear something that my boyfriend gave to me just because he gave it to me. I'll work on my maturity so that I'm the perfect girlfriend for you."

"You don't need to work on anything," Ren replied, "I think you're adorable and I fell in love with you so you don't need to become anyone else. As long as you're happy then I'm happy."

Kyoko smiled before looking back at the paper, "So what is the most important thing to you?"

Ren smiled as he looked at her, "You," he told her and Kyoko felt her oxygen cut out. She bowed her head and giggled as she tried to keep her cool. It was so strange hearing Ren say that to her and she wondered if it was the truth. She looked at him with a smile and then saw him smiling that blinding smile at her and she had to put her head down again. He was playing around with him, right?

"Umm, maybe we need to put another answer," Kyoko said and Ren paused.

"How about you go first?" he asked, "and you can't say me," he told her with a raised eyebrow as he challenged her.

"Moko," Kyoko said, "Well my friendships and that includes Moko-chan, Maria, Amamiya-san, and Yashiro-san even. So, how about you?"

"Family," Ren smiled as he could imagine his father sitting next to Kyoko. He really wanted to be reacquainted for his family and he really hoped that they would welcome him back with open arms. His father was always one of his most important people as well as his personal hero.

"So, the next question," Kyoko said as she watched him, "Is why?"

 **End of Chapter Five**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to the Chapter Four Reviewers**

Ashenvale, Ju, KrisXD, Megumitasama, PaulaGaTo

 **Response to Reviews**

I'm glad that people liked the reaction and I'm thankful that you think the flashback tied in nicely 😊 Ren sometimes doesn't make the best choices in his actions and you'll have to wait for Yashiro's reaction as they are back to question time again.


	7. Chapter 6 - The Answer is Family

**AN:** I hope you guys enjoy the little trick that Kyoko will do

 **Chapter 6 – The Answer Is Family**

 _The six-year-old Kuon watched his parents closely as they started to get everything ready for the family reunion. It was strange that his parents would be hosting it this year because they usually did two, they went to his mother's parents and his father's parents. He was starting to get use to using enough of the different language to impress his maternal grandmother and his paternal grandfather._

" _Do you think that my Russian is good enough?" Kuon asked as he went to Julie who was looking over her dress again and Julie ruffled his hair up._

" _Yes, the fact that you can speak any Russian is really good," she smiled before smoothing her dress out again. "I'm so proud of you my little Kuon," she said before looking over at Kuu who had been cooking and preparing the food._

" _Not to mention your Japanese," he said and Kuon sighed, "Hey, Japanese is better than Russian," he declared earning a cold and disapproving look from Julie. "You should really study some of the kanji and the different calligraphy styles, it'd be fun."_

" _Acting_ _is fun," Kuon said and Kuu sighed._

" _You're right," he grinned to his son, "Acting is very fun. We'll have to tell your grandmother about your acting classes," he said and Kuon looked at his dad._

" _Grandfather always tells me that I need to work hard and that's the mark of a true Hizuri, working hard to improve on your flaws," he looked down. "He never likes coming here, he keeps saying Japan is better."_

" _Well, I was born and raised in Japan but I fell in love and so I had to move here," he joked with Kuon as he finally brought the last dish out. "So, let's have an awesome reunion and nobody mention anything about war," he said looking over at Julie._

" _I didn't bring it up," she protested, "and who knew how much a bunch of Japanese guys can argue with a group of Russians," she looked over to Kuon and sighed, "This dress will probably get creased anyway and I'd prefer to be a mother without fear of holding her kids," she said as she wrapped her arms around Kuon. "Plus, look at how adorable he is."_

" _Mom," Kuon smiled as he wiggled out of the embrace._

" _I do have to agree with your mother on this, you are adorable," he said as Kuon started to get his own clothes straightened._

…

…

"You're Japanese-American, right?" Kyoko asked as she smiled at Kuon and he smiled before looking down.

"Well, Ren Tsuruga is a Japanese gentleman in terms of the role but as for Kuon or my proper self, I'm one half American, one quarter Japanese and one quarter Russian," he told her before looking down uneasily. Kyoko didn't have the best memories of her own mother and he felt a little bit guilty saying that his family mattered most to him. He was at a complete disconnect to his family.

However, seeing his dad that time meant so much to him. Even if they really hadn't been able to talk for a long time as father and son, his dad had proved that he was loved and Kuon could only hope that the video was doing the work of reminding his parents that he truly cared about them both.

"Did you travel a lot? I know that you came here," Kyoko said and Kuon looked at her before seeing that there wasn't a question about travel on the paper. He looked to her with a smile as she turned to the paper, "I could always write in a question," she told him which made Kuon laugh.

"Yes, I went traveling all over the world. Until I was thirteen we used to go to about six new countries a year, well some of them my parents were booked for an international job and I would travel with them. I think that by traveling all over the world I got to have a love for the natural world and the plants and animals that I saw," Kuon told her honestly and Kyoko smiled seeing how happily he talked about those things.

"We can say that you love travel and maybe that you're conscious about the environment," Kyoko wrote down on her paper, "I mean, those would definitely be impressive things to your average fan," she said and Kuon sighed, pushing his hand through his hair again before nodding.

"Okay," he said and Kyoko watched him, tilting her head a little.

"Are you okay?" she asked. She paused before looking down and took a deep breath in, "Kuon, I'm still getting used to bridging that gap between being your kohai and being your girlfriend," Kyoko blushed a deep scarlet after using that word. "As your kohai, I wouldn't dream on stepping over any line by inquiring about my sempai's personal life but as your girlfriend, is there anything that I can help with?" she asked and Kuon looked at her.

"Sorry, it's just thinking about my parents. For years I've been thinking of myself as Ren Tsuruga and because Ren's not that fully formed as a character because a lot of it was myself, he doesn't have a family. I mean, what was I supposed to do, hire actors to say their my parents and…you've met my father," Kuon tried to explain and Kyoko sighed before nodding.

"I know, your dad is amazing and I'd really love to have grown up with him as my father," she said before pausing as she got an idea. She looked to Kuon before putting the notebook and questions on the counter. "The president said we could use this room, right?"

"Well, I think he meant in order to get this questionnaire filled out," Kuon smiled before raising an eyebrow, "Have you got another idea of how we should use the room?" he asked before seeing that Kyoko was looking through her phone. "Are you -"

"I'm just calling someone to get some help on interviewing major celebrities," Kyoko smiled as she held his hand and let her thumb run over the back of it, "It's going to be okay, Kuon. It's going to be just fine," she said as Kuon looked at her confused.

"Let me tell you step one is usually that you don't phone somebody up in the middle of the interview and if you do, you definitely don't put them on speak-"

"Hello, Kyoko?"

Kuon turned pale as he heard his father's voice. He didn't know what to say or what to do so he just sat there with his hand on his knee staring at her. He didn't know how to communicate with his dad. He knew that Kyoko was just trying to help but if people found out that he had spoken to his father then would his secret come out? He wasn't ready to have that made public knowledge.

"Hi, Father. Are you able to talk?" Kyoko asked politely and Kuu chuckled.

"Yes, I am. How are you? I hoped that you'd call me more often, maybe I'd have been able to give you a little help as far as jobs and acting. You are my son after all and Julie and I are watching you on as many Japanese network channels as we can. You're doing an amazing job," Kuu praised her and Kuon looked down remembering the times when his father had praised him in that way.

"I'm sorry, Father, it's just that I know that you're such a busy actor and I definitely wouldn't want to burden you with calling but I just wanted to ask you for some help," Kyoko said with a playful smile as Kuon sat with his eyes glued to the phone. He started to twitch a little.

"You wanted my help, okay, go ahead," Kuu laughed happily and Kyoko paused.

"Well, you know that I don't like to talk about my family and I haven't had a happy childhood where my mother is concerned, we spoke about that before you left to go home to America," Kyoko began and Kuu sighed.

"Yes, I do know, were you asked to do the role of a loving daughter, you were definitely able to do the role of my loving and adorable son. I have full faith in you, Kuon," Kuu chuckled and Kyoko saw Kuon shift.

"Father, I'm sitting here doing an interview with an actor and he just said that family was the most important thing to him but I'm not sure how to respond so maybe you can do it for me?" Kyoko asked with a playful smile and Kuon had to wonder whether this was payback for toying with him various times.

"Kyoko, are you telling me that you're in the interview right now?" Kuu asked concerned, "because let me tell you, step one is usually that you don't phone somebody u-"

"We're not taking it that seriously, honestly," Kuon finally said and looked at Kyoko who was getting excited about the fact that Kuu and Kuon were getting to speak a little bit more. "First of all, she knows, second of all she's my girlfriend, and third of all, I'm really sor-"

"Don't make me poke you in the head again," Kuu laughed happily sounding as excited as someone being told they won a luxury car from a radio show. "It is you, right? I mean…are you out? Did you tell everyone who you -"

"I told Kyoko who I am," Kuon sighed, "I took out my contacts and everything. I think she knows that I wanted to talk to you but I wouldn't dare to call you myself because I'm supposed to not be related to you. So, right now, in this room I'm…..I'm Kuon and I'm trying to get used to it but I'm not there yet."

"Oh my god," Kuu said with happy laughter, "I'm just, I'm thrilled to be able to talk to you and don't worry. Kyoko and I have a great connection to each other, one that will rival the father and son bond so we can just say that she phoned me and I got to talk to her boyfriend."

Kuon laughed, "Maybe even better than the father and son bond?"

"Being on speaker phone isn't fair," Kuu said and both of them could see him pouting. Kyoko smiled as she realized that he just didn't want to hurt her feelings. If she were Kuu then she would most definitely prioritize the real Kuon over the one who was just pretending to be Kuon. Those were just the facts.

"I know," Kyoko said, "but Kuon, the real Kuon did say that the most important thing to him is his family."

"I…I.." Kuon said nervously and bowed his head, "I love you guys but if my own parents would be happier without me in -"

"Are you kidding me? Your mother wants me to bring you back to America with me kicking and screaming if I ever go over there again," Kuu said and Kyoko saw the pain but also the joy on her boyfriend's face.

"I mean if it would make -" Kuon said and then heard the sound of Kuu going into another room.

"Kuu," Kuon could hear his mother's voice, "[Who is on the phone? Who is so important that you have to interrupt me yet again and please don't tell me it's takeout?]" she asked all of this in English.

"[Hi,]" Kuon replied, "[I'm not sure if you would recogni-"]

"[Kuon, darling, oh my sweet Kuon, is that you?]" Julie asked, her voice coated with many layers of emotion and Kuon had to take a deep breath.

"[It's me.]"

 **End of Chapter Six**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you for the reviews of Chapter Five**

Kris XD, ktoll9

 **Response to Reviews**

Thank you, so happy that you're enjoying it 😊


	8. Chapter 7 - The Profile

**AN:** Thank you so much for your patience everyone. I know it's just been about two months since this fic was updated and given that my work hours went up seven hours a week and I'm still in school with other fics, two months is really nothing to me but I am thankful for your continued support.

 **Chapter Seven : The Profile**

Kyoko froze as she saw the way that her boyfriend's face took on the numerous emotions. It always made her feel good when her mother came back even if her mother disliked her and wanted to keep her at a distance. Kyoko would always do whatever she could to try to get her mother to love her but the woman just wouldn't. Julie obviously loved Kuon so much so the separation from a mother who wants you is what she saw on Kuon's face.

"[It's me]" Kuon whispered in English as he sat back a little, he looked down concentrating on the heavy breathing. He bowed his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "[I'm so happy that I get to talk to you. I'm really really sorr-]"

"[Darling,]" Julie said with a sob as she tried to collect herself, even without seeing her one could imagine the happy tears that she probably had all over her face. "[Oh you never have to apologize to me. I'm the one who should be sorry. I saw your video, thank you for making that for me, baby.]" She whispered and Kuon tensed.

"[I'm not such a baby anymore,]" he laughed.

"[You'll always be my baby]" Julie argued with him and Kuon looked down with a happy smile, tears sparkling in his eyes. Kyoko reached forward to take his hand. She hadn't wanted him to be upset but she was also hoping something good would come out of this as well. Ren was only a flat character compared to the real Kuon and maybe introducing Japan to the real Kuon wouldn't be such a bad thing.

"What if you come out?" Kyoko asked as she looked at Kuon and he shifted.

"Come out as….as Kuon?" he asked and Kyoko nodded, "but then…then everything will fall apart. I haven't done enough to earn my place as Kuon Hizuri without them instantly thinking back to my father," he said and Kyoko shook her head.

"I think you've done more," she argued before sighing, "Will you think about it at least?" she asked and he sighed before nodding. He looked at her a few moments later even though, at this point, both parents were eavesdropping.

"You really think that I can?" he asked and Kyoko reached out to squeeze his hand.

"You're Ren Tsuruga is known by more of Japan's young people than Shuuhei Hozu, you've gotten to the top of the rankings charts numerous times, people request that you work for them without you even having to audition. That's not going to all go away because you're Kuon Hizuri. I think it'll shock people but won't you feel happier that you don't need to pretend?" Kyoko asked him and Kuon laughed softly.

"I might feel better but I'll have to talk it over with the president," he said before hearing a cheer of excitement from his mother.

"If you do that?" she asked in flawless Japanese, "may I come and see you? May I come and visit you?" she asked and Kuon looked at the floor in the office. He nodded his head before realizing that his mother couldn't see that.

"Yes, _if_ I do it," he said and heard Julie laugh in excitement. He wished that he didn't have to put his mother through so much joy if there was a chance he would have to crush her hopes. He looked down as he concentrated on the floor.

"Whatever you decide, whether you come out now or later, you're still my son and I love you, okay?" Kuu said as Kuon nodded. Kyoko wished that she had parents like this and she didn't want to be jealous of him. Kuon had gone through so much in his life. If Corn had a happy life with happy parents then that was what she wanted for him. Who knew that Corn would become such a stunning actor and person.

…..

…..

 _Kuon took a look around at all of his relatives. He could hear the chatter of three different languages and he hated to say it but it scared him. He was already scared of messing up in front of his parents' friends, now he would mess up in Japanese or Russian and he wasn't ready to do that. He sighed and took a few steps away from the room._

" _Kuon?" Julie asked as she caught him out of the corner of her eyes, "It's okay, sweetheart," she said as she came up to him. She crouched down and smiled, running her fingers through his hair. "Hey, my sweet Kuon," she smiled, "What is it? What's making you so afraid?"_

" _I'm scared that I'll mess up and grandfather will be upset because I don't know Japanese or they'll be upset that I don't know Russian," he said as he looked at his maternal grandparents._

" _But you do know some of each of those languages and nobody expects you to be perfect. If you don't want to speak any Russian, that's okay, you grew up in America and so I think they'll understand if you prefer to speak in English," she grinned to him and Kuon nodded nervously._

" _So, you want to speak with us?" she asked and Kuon nodded, approaching his extended family._

 _He stood in front of his grandparents and crossed his fingers behind his back for good luck. "Privet babushka I ded. Priyatno videt' vas snova" (hello grandmother and grandfather. It's nice to see you again.) He looked at them nervously and his grandmother smiled widely._

" _Kuon," she laughed as she wrapped her arms around him, "Vy khorosho vladeyete russkim yazykom. YA rad snova videt' Vas" (You speak Russian well. I am glad to see you again.)_

" _So, Kuon," his paternal grandfather said as he approached him, "Learnt some Russian?" he grinned before looking towards Kuu and Kuon turned to face him._

" _Watashi wa nihongo mo shitte imasu. Watashino otousan wa watashi ni itta" (I also know Japanese. My father told me) he said with the Japanese accent nearly perfect. He smiled weakly and his grandfather patted Kuu on the back._

" _Yoku yatta. Anata ni wa subarashi musuko ga iru" (Well done. You have a wonderful son) the grandfather said to Kuu leading both Kuu and Kuon to smile happily._

…..

…

"You want to do what?" Lory asked as he looked at the two people before him. He had had hope that one day Kuon would say exactly what he just had but it still didn't keep him from being nervous for him. Kuon was like a son to him, someone that he wanted to take care of and make sure he didn't take another bad route in his life. He was hesitant about what they had just said.

"We decided that we don't want to write a questionnaire about Ren," Kyoko said as Kuon smiled weakly and he looked forwards. He knew that Kyoko was trying to help but would this situation have been better had he come to the president himself?

"But are you sure?" Lory asked and Kuon nodded.

"I wanted to talk to you about the consequences of that action. I think that I'm strong enough to stand for myself and I think that I've done enough good acting as Ren Tsuruga that people might think of him rather than my dad when they hear my name. I think that I'm ready to try again."

Kuon sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and made an attempt to control his breathing. What they were doing now was certainly much different than what they had planned to do. Giving weak and vague answers to a magazine was much different than coming out and explaining who he was to Japan especially not being certain about what the effects were.

"I believe that's a good point. In many ways you have surpassed Shuuhei but once you decide to do this it'll be hard to stop it and when it's done, you can't go back into hiding," Lory tried to explain and Kuon smiled weakly.

"I think that I owe it to my friends, my family, my fans to be honest with them and take whatever the consequences are. I don't know when I want to do it but maybe at the end of next week?" he asked and Lory pointed to Kyoko.

"Do you think you could write something up about the real Kuon?" he asked and Kyoko's back straightened.

"I can try my best but wouldn't it be better from a seasoned reporter than from me?" Kyoko asked quickly and Lory hummed.

"I wouldn't be able to trust a reporter like that in the same way that I trust you," he said before looking at Kuon's troubled expression. "You seem to be thinking about something," he commented and Kuon nodded.

"I'd like to tell Yashiro myself," he told him. "I owe that to him at least."

…

…

" _I'm really sorry that I don't have a driver's license" Yashiro said as he looked at the seventeen year old. Ren was definitely a professional, he never let his guard down and Yashiro was seeing promise in him. He just hoped that he could keep up. Ren really was quiet and he didn't let his walls down enough that Yashiro believed he'd ever get to know him very well. He was a hard working professional though._

" _I like driving," Ren replied, not taking his eyes off of the road._

" _Well then that works out but I still apologize. I have a weird way of breaking things that are technological instead of -"_

" _If I keep driving then I am in control of the car," Ren said looking as if he was staring into space. It was as if those words had a greater meaning to them but the way that Ren had guarded himself made it hard for Yashiro to talk to him._

" _Sure, you want to listen to any music?" Yashiro asked as he took out a book with a list of music on it. Ren shook his head and Yashiro tried not to intrude on him. This was going to have to take some getting used to. A lot of the actors these days were charismatic, especially the younger actors. They were excited and outgoing but Ren was quiet and reserved unless he had to be._

" _I'm thinking that you're not a fan of audio dramas either," Yashiro attempted to joke and Ren looked over at him._

" _Why, did you want to listen to something?" he asked and then shrugged to show that he didn't mind._

" _No, not me, but if there was something that you liked…what kind of music do you like?" Yashiro asked and Ren shrugged again. Yashiro paused before nodding his head and looking out the window. Hopefully things wouldn't always be this difficult between them. Still, Ren was a professional and cared about his work ethic and Yashiro appreciated that._

 _He and Ren might never be friends but at least Ren would get jobs and as he acted more, his acting would improve. He was already proving how talented he was. He just needed those breakout roles and Yashiro planned to get them for him even if Ren never thanked him for them._

" _I'm fine," Ren replied as he turned towards the studio. "This is where the first meeting is," he more stated that asked but Yashiro nodded anyway. With a person like Ren it would be hard to have him open up but maybe the quietest people had the most secrets that they were holding onto. Well, he wouldn't pry, but he was interested in knowing more about this mysterious actor he was now manager to._

 **End of Chapter Seven**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Six**

Blue Sky of Love, cleocat333, Coolestbee, H-Nala, Ju, KrisXD, ktoll9, paulagato

 **Response to Reviews**

I'd be surprised if anyone thought that I wasn't a Kuu fan. I'm glad that people like the flashbacks and so I took your request and continued them into this chapter. Thank you so much for your support.

So this fic was supposed to be included in a massive update I'm planning on but it's taking longer than I thought and you guys have been patiently waiting so here's the chapter 😊 Also I started kind of a gritty Skip Beat fic if anyone likes crime drama and messed up stuff.

It's called: Just A Family Get Together.

Basically, Kuon was accused and convicted of his daughter's death because of planted evidence, bribed police officers, and just shoddy government work. He has been in prison for five years, wrongfully convicted. However, six years after her murder, his and Kyoko's daughter arrives as part of a child labor project. Now that Kuon is released and found to be wrongfully convicted, Kyoko has switched to a profession of a lawyer trying to find a loophole to get him released, their daughter was put through things children shouldn't have to know about, and their son has to keep things together whilst acting as a strength for Kyoko it's interesting to see how it all pieces together. It's also written from the view of Kuon and Kyoko though I'm thinking of maybe giving Rikuu and Aurora (their children their own pov chapters)

Also, if anyone is wondering. I use the same character names but they are not the same characters for their children.


	9. Chapter 8 - Revelations

**AN:** Hope you guys enjoy 😊

 **Chapter Eight – Revelations**

Yashiro nervously entered the restaurant. This was strange. He had met Ren in private before but usually it was inside of an office at LME or it was at a park or somewhere secluded but this was different. He didn't know why Ren would want to ever meet at a restaurant unless it was to drop a bombshell on him. Yashiro paled. What if what Ren wanted to tell him was about him terminating his work? There was a lot of reasons why that could be, sickness, wanting to move, not being bothered by acting anymore because something happened.

No. All of this was…he was thinking too much on what it _could_ be and if he relaxed it would be easier for him to learn about what it was. He had to keep his mind at ease. Ren wanted to discuss something with him in private. That was all the information he had. Ren had done things privately before, he had been Cain Heel before, it might be more of a situation like that.

Although Yashiro didn't know of any secret undercover work, the president sometimes sprung things upon them without them knowing. It was definitely possible for that to be the case.

As he was led to the private room, he followed the host into the main room and was surprised at seeing Kyoko there as well. What was going on here? He smiled politely to the host and then sat down with the two actors. He looked between them before grinning.

Had the two of them invited him here for good news?

Were they a couple now? Were they celebrating with him how it felt to be a couple and that he had actually predicted correctly all this time? "Are you two?" he asked, too excited to finish the sentence and Ren nodded.

"Yes, it's…not why we invited you though but, yes, Kyoko and I are in a relationship," he smiled as Yashiro laughed happily. Ren raised an eyebrow at this reaction but Kyoko had predicted it. Sometimes Yashiro did come off as a fanboy.

"Congratulations, I'm thrilled for the both of you. Tell me if you need me to book time off for you for dates," he said to Ren slyly as he playfully moved his eyebrows up and down. Ren however looked to Kyoko and took another breath in.

"You know that Ren Tsuruga is a stage name, don't you?" he asked and Yashiro looked at him as if asking Ren if he thought that he, Yashiro, were stupid.

"I know that. However, you've never let me know the secret of your true name and I grew exhausted by wondering what it was," Yashiro said honestly and Ren looked down with a smile. Kyoko squeezed his hand to offer her support. "If it's something that isn't glamorous we can do something with your image that will make even the wor-"

"Hizuri Kuon," Ren said and Yashiro paused. He looked at him confused. "I'm the son of Hizuri Kuu," he tried to explain and Yashiro's jaw dropped, his mouth hanging open in complete shock. He had never thought of that possibility and now he wasn't sure if he had been treating Ren….Kuon in the way that he should have for so long. His client had just said that he was the son of his idol.

"You mean, Kuu the actor or is there another?" Yashiro asked and Ren looked down, staring at the tea in front of him.

"Yes, my father is the famous actor Kuu Hizuri. It's because of him that I entered the acting field, he always inspired me and I often saw him acting on set. However, because my acting couldn't match his when I was a young child, my spirit got broken and I wound up dealing with depression especially after the death of a friend of mine. My father and the president came up with the idea that I would try to act in Japan where people didn't know me and using an identity that was separate from my true nature."

Kuon sighed. He knew that revealing this information was hard for him, hopefully Yashiro wouldn't judge him for this. He knew that Yashiro was a Kuu fan so he hoped that he hadn't disappointed him by not talking about his connection to his father.

"I understand," Yashiro nodded, "The industry often expects more from people than they can give especially within a famous family so I understand, I do have to ask though why you're talking about this now, why are you telling me after such a long time of keeping your identity a secret?"

"Because I've decided that I've completed the goal of being a well-known actor that I think people will think of my talent more than my family connection. I've decided to come clean with Japan so to speak." Kuon bowed his head as he managed to reveal part of himself and Yashiro was to accept it. He felt that he could drop the disguise of Ren Tsuruga at least within this private room.

"I think so too. I don't think that people will talk about the family influence," Yashiro agreed, "So am I still calling you Ren? Is that what the plan is?"

"Until the article comes out and the press conference, I would appreciate that," Kuon nodded, "After that though, I will be using the name Kuon to identify with. I don't think that I'm going to hold a funeral like my father did. I don't want Ren to die, rather I want to take what I learned from my role as Ren to make Kuon get even stronger."

"Good," Yashiro smiled in agreement, "So, just keep me updated on what needs to happen and I'll personally talk to the president and help with setting up this press conference."

Kuon smiled and bowed his head, "Thank you for understanding."

…

…

 _Ren smiled sadly as he saw a group of children playing in the snow. It was starting to be that time of year again and the nineteen-year-old felt extremely nostalgic. He sighed as he drove towards the studio where the interview would be held. Christmas was always the time for American commercials that he had grown up with. It was the time for Lifetime movies with sappy endings. It was a time when even his own parents wouldn't work so they could spend time with him despite the amount of work there was to be had for actors._

 _Christmas had always been important to him and he had so many memories of celebrating Christmas with both his mother and father. He could remember the smell of the homemade cookies that his father made and how they were one treat that he actually got excited to eat. He could remember how beautiful the tree was that his mother had picked out and the ornaments that she chose to put on it._

 _What he wouldn't give for one more Christmas dinner where he was sat between them and could laugh and have fun. He probably wasn't missed by his parents who were most likely either eating a dinner for just the two of them or hosting some fantastic Christmas event. His mother always did love planning events._

 _Still, now there would be nobody at his apartment apart from him. It was true when they said that the holiday season led you to reflect on just how lonely you were._

" _Any plans for Christmas?" Yashiro asked as he looked towards his client, Ren looked at him before shaking his head without saying anything for a moment. Once they reached the stoplights though, he turned to Yashiro._

" _No, you? Your parents this year?"_

" _I was going to visit my parents for New Years but they asked me to come for Christmas as well. I think that the holiday is actually getting bigger in Japan these days, the internet and all…"_

" _Yeah," Ren nodded, "Well I hope you have a good time with them. It's always nice to see family."_

" _Are you visiting yours?" Yashiro asked and Ren shook his head._

" _They wouldn't have left a spot at the table for me anyway," he told him before sighing and Yashiro looked at him but didn't feel it was his place to ask about it. Little did Ren know that his parents did create a spot for him at the dinner table. They understood he wouldn't be joining them but they both hoped that maybe someday they could enjoy a holiday meal together. They hadn't enjoyed one for five years after all._

…..

…..

Kuu was drinking a cup of coffee as he stood staring at his yard. He was watching a couple of birds in the birdbath and he recalled standing here and teaching Kuon about birds. Actually, he remembered the days in which Julie had an early modeling shoot and he could carry the one year old baby to the window or out into the yard and talk to him about the different animals.

Kuon would never be that young again and all Kuu could hope for was that one day he would have the chance to do that with his grandchild. He took another sip of his coffee and turned around.

His phone was ringing. He went to pick it up thinking that it was a work call. He had an interview this afternoon but the morning was clear, only Julie was working. He looked at the phone which was showing an unknown number in Japan. Strange.

Kuu picked it up before holding it to his mouth, "Moshi Moshi, Hizuri Kuu."

There was a long pause from the other side of the phone and Kuu wondered if this was a prank call or something from a fan who had managed to get his American phone number. "Hello? Hello?" he asked and then heard a slow breath.

"Hello, it's….I hope it's okay for me to call you," he heard a familiar voice and froze. He could place this voice anywhere. "It's Kuon," the man said and Kuu smiled. After all of this time, his son was phoning him and Kuu wasn't going to miss this chance to speak with him. "I hope it's okay that I called you."

"Of course," Kuu smiled softly, "Yes, call at any time you want. How are you? Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm just…" Kuon replied and Kuu stopped. Was something wrong here? He hadn't heard from Kuon in such a long time. Was it actually something wrong?

"Can I help you with anything? Is everything okay?" Kuu asked, his voice sounding more desperate.

"Yes," Kuon replied quickly, "Yes. I'm okay. I promise you, I'm okay but…when I tell people who I am, I'm a little worried that it might cause some damage to you and….and I'm wondering whether you want me -"

"I want them to know but this has never been about what I want," Kuu said as he went to sit down. He took some deep breaths as he tried to think about what to do or what to say. It had been such a long time since he and his son had spoken like this, even during his Japan visit. "What do you want?"

"I want to try to be seen as your son," Kuon replied "but then…do you want to be my father?" he asked scared to hear Kuu's reaction. Kuu sighed as he tried to come up with the best response to this.

"More than anything, I'm so proud to be your father," he said.

"Really?" Kuon chucked, "because I'm so proud to be your son," he replied and Kuu grinned. Finally he was getting his little boy's invitation back into his life. This was all he had wanted for years.

 **End of Chapter Eight**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you, reviewers of Chapter Seven**

EmmaLasagna, Ju, Megumitasama, PaulaGaTo,

 **Response to Reviews**

I really hope that you guys liked Yashiro's reaction to who Ren really is. I'm glad that you guys liked this and definitely glad to hear you like the flashbacks since I really do love writing the flashbacks.


	10. Chapter 9 - It All Comes Out

**AN:** Thank you for your patience in the update of this fic. I've been busy/distracted so thank you for returning to read this chapter.

 **Chapter Nine – It All Comes Out**

Ren looked nervously at Kyoko as she sat with her notepad and pen. He knew that soon he wouldn't be able to use the name Ren anymore without it being connected to Kuu Hizuri. In fact, his entire presence was soon going to be directly linked to the Japanese superstar but he had to be ready to fight against those connections and prove that he was more than the son of a beloved actor. He had to try to be Kuon because otherwise Ren would swallow him whole.

He looked ahead at Kyoko and nodded his head, "Let's start," he told her and Kyoko nodded. She had taken on the huge responsibility of presenting Kuon to Japan, she had to do her best to show him the respect and love that he deserved.

"First question, your full name," Kyoko said and Ren looked at her, watching her.

"Hizuri Kuon," he told her and she wrote it down.

"How old are you?" she asked and he grinned before laughing.

"I didn't change _that_ much about myself," he said though he did have to admit that one of the reasons he had changed his birth date when he had appeared as Ren was because there were articles that stated Kuu Hizuri's son's birthday and he didn't want to risk someone ever making the connection. He smiled to her, "Twenty one," he said honestly and Kyoko blushed, god that smile was still so powerful to her.

"Okay and the date of birth," she said and Kuon closed his eyes as he remembered her present to him.

"February 19th," he told her honestly and she wrote it down. Kuon let his eyes roam down to the next question, "Los Angeles, California, United States." He said and Kyoko wrote it down. At least most people knew what LA was especially in the acting community, it didn't need much explanation but it would surprise most people to think that the Japanese actor that they had all followed for so long came from such a place.

Well, there were probably so many types of Americans that there was no _set_ type for them.

"How long did it take you to learn Japanese?" Kyoko smiled as she thought about how Kuu had stood on top of the table and sung out Kuon's achievements to the world or at least to her. He had said that Kuon was smart and able to learn things quickly and she had already seen him learn the piano when they were filming Dark Moon together.

"Well, I knew it by the time I was ten and you know that," he smiled to her as she stared at him and nodded. More than anyone else, she did know that. She turned away from him and glanced down at her notebook. "My father taught me. It was important to my father that I knew Japanese even as a child and it was important to my mother that I knew how to speak Russian. That's why I am fluent in three languages."

"Why did you come to Japan from the United States?" Kyoko asked and Kuon smiled weakly. He didn't know what answer to give, there was the real answer that dealt with his life fighting with gangs and Rick's death and there was the more simplified reason that he wanted to act and his father's presence in America seemed to overshadow everything. Maybe it would be best to say the latter.

"I wanted to see if I could act for the company that my dad did without anyone knowing," he told her honestly and Kyoko smiled as she tapped the pen against the paper.

"That's right, Kuu-sama is a LME alumnus," she commented and Kuon nodded. "I wonder if we could track down any paperwork for him. It would be nice to see some of the pictures of him when he was younger," she said and Kuon laughed.

"I look more like my mother," he told her before bowing his head, "Not that my mother looks masculine at all. In fact, she's one of the most beautiful models that has worked in the industry, definitely one of the most beautiful women that I've ever known."

Kyoko opened her mouth to speak and couldn't help the huge grin that she had, "When I was Natsu, doing my Natsu training?" she asked excitedly before taking another breath in to steady herself. "I'm sorry, when I asked you to help me with my Natsu training, was the woman that you were talking about your mother?"

Kuon nodded. "It was," he admitted and she grinned excitedly.

….

…

" _Mom," the eight year old said as he looked at the piece of tape down the floor of the kitchen. He had gone into the kitchen to get himself some juice to drink and he had come across his mother wearing an elegant dress and a long strip of tape down the middle of the kitchen. He stared at her confused. She sat on a chair and put some formal shoes with a three inch heel on her feet._

 _That looked a bit painful._

 _What was she doing? He had often heard that she needed to train as a model but she always did well when he saw her on the runway and she had been named one of the best looking models in America in magazines. Did she actually have to train anymore? Wasn't it just like…a natural instinct or something?_

" _Hi, my love," Julie grinned looking almost like she was about to stand up and start dancing in these nearly impossible heels. She giggled as she stood, making sure to get her balance. "I've got great news. An Italian fashion designer asked me to walk for their line so I get to go to Italy and it's a really well-known designer. Some people dream their entire lives about being in the fashion shows, isn't that great?" she asked and Kuon nodded._

 _He forced a smile onto his face. His mother was so happy and he didn't want to take her dream away from her but the parent-teacher meetings were coming up and it sounded as if she might be away during those. He could always ask his dad but with his father's acting schedule being as packed as it was. Maybe he could just tell his teacher that his parents were busy and she wouldn't have to talk with them._

" _Yeah, Mom," he told her as he saw how she was walking down the line in the heels, being as perfect of a model as one could be. Kuon tried hard to not show any awkwardness as he watched her. His parents had dreams that he had to respect, he couldn't let things like school meetings interfere with their work. "You look beautiful," he told her and Julie giggled._

" _You're such a handsome little boy, Kuon," she said as she walked over to him and knelt in front of him, pushing his hair back and letting him laugh. "My little Kuon," she said as she held him to her. She wasn't even able to describe how much he meant to her._

…

…

A couple of days later, in agreement with the terms that Lory had provided, the article that Kyoko had written about Kuon was going to come out. There had been no announcements and neither a picture of Kuon or a picture of Ren was on the outside of the magazine despite it having sold more copies of the magazines. It was just one line: ' _A Hidden Identity You Didn't Know you Were Missing'._

Some people would have ignored this, called it trashy reporting and moved along. Those were the people who were going to miss out on this information. The people who would try to get copies of the magazine too late and regret not purchasing it. Kuon however, as he sat in Ren Tsuruga's dressing room, was reading the article and feeling very nervous about who would have read it.

As he was sitting in the chair waiting for his hair and makeup, he heard an excited voice behind him and a voice with an excitement he had never heard before. He was staring in a short drama from Director Shinkai and he was the man who seemed to be overly excited about the article.

"How come you never told me this, Ren" he said as he pointed to the article, "I could have sold this. Made more money for my projects," he said and Kuon raised an eyebrow.

"Because I was nervous about the world knowing about my famous father," he shrugged and Shinkai sighed. He could definitely agree with that, Kuu Hizuri was omnipresent in Japan. However, this was going to make people more interested in seeing his work. Ren had always performed well with a certain demographic but this work might make people in their sixties and seventies turn on their TV sets just to watch the son of Kuu Hizuri.

"Well, can we advertise it now?" Shinkai asked as he looked at the article that Kyoko's name was on. How come she got to know the truth before he did? Well, unless something had happened between the two of them since they had dealt with the Ruriko situation. "I mean, the fact that Kuon Hizuri decided to star in one of my projects," he said and Kuon rolled his eyes, taking a sip of water.

"We've worked together many times," he told him with a smile. "I don't think that putting my name one way or another makes a difference. People wanted to know who I really was and I could have done an on-screen flashy reveal but it would have been just the same," he said and Shinkai sighed, dropping his head.

"I want that excitement drawn towards me though," he said and Kuon shrugged. "So which name are you going by? I've known you so far as Ren so it'll be a change to adjust it to Kuon but I can start calling you Kuo-"

"Ren," he replied as he continued to sit in the chair waiting for the stylist. "I'm sticking with Ren. I have built my acting career around Ren Tsuruga and it doesn't matter to me if people know or they don't know but I promised myself that the first acting job that I use my real name for will be in America so right now, Ren…just continue using Ren Tsuruga.

Shinkai stood firm before nodding with a weak laugh, "Fine then, Ren Tsuruga it is."

…

…

Sho growled as he made his way into TBM studios. Everywhere people were gossiping about Ren Tsuruga's proper name and how they hadn't been sure that Ren was a stage name because it suited him so well. Then they were saying how there were rumors that he used to be a blond and how he would look as a blond with different eye colors. Then a lot of people were saying that the name Kuon sounded so much cooler and it suited him and sounded more 'refreshing'. More than that were the constant videos playing about who this guy was.

Sho Fuwa didn't give a fig who he was. He was an annoying rival and he wanted to prove that he was stronger and more successful than. He stomped through the studio before hearing his phone ring and stopped. His eyes widened as he saw the phone number for the family ryokan.

Were his parents actually calling him now?

Sho froze. He didn't want to answer it because he had run away from home but his mother would be pissed if she found out that he was attempting to dodge her calls. He bit his bottom lip and picked it up. "Hello," he said, "Sho speaking."

"Sho," his mother smiled and finally Sho felt that he was the center of somebody's attention. "I feel so bad calling you out of the blue like this," she said and Sho opened his mouth to speak but his mother continued before he could form a reply. "I wanted to ask you for a favor. Your father and I are Hizuri Kuu fans and we were hoping you could get an autograph from his son for us," she said.

Sho was struck silent, battling between his love for his mother and his desire to throw this phone on the ground and break it into a thousand pieces. She wanted _what!?_

 **End of Chapter Nine**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Eight**

Brennakai, EmmaLasagna, evilteddybear, H-Nala, Ju, Kaname671, Kris XD, Megumitasama, paulagato


	11. Chapter 10 - The Final Question

**AN:** This is going to be the last chapter of this fic so it's a little shorter than the others. I want to thank everyone who has followed and favorited this fic as well as a special thank you to all of the reviewers. When I started this fic last year I had lots of plans for it, some came to fruition whilst others didn't. I might try to do something with little Kuon and more flashbacks when I've finished a couple of other fics. I also had the urge to do a sequel to my fic, "More Like a Phoenix" which might happen next year.

Again thank you, everybody

 **Chapter Ten – The Final Question**

Kuon felt his body start to tense up as he realized how many reporters he was actually going to be facing at the press conference. Kyoko had been excited when he had gone back to his blond hair and emerald eyes but the Japanese public hadn't seen him in that way before. To many of them he may be seen as a stranger or some bad Ren Tsuruga impersonator but he had his wig and contacts and hopefully he wouldn't drop down in public opinion after doing this.

"And may I introduce," Lory said as Kuon felt Kyoko's hand on his back, "For his first Japanese press conference, Hizuri Kuon."

"You can do it," Kyoko whispered to him and Kuon nodded before hearing the gasps of the audience and he heard people whisper to one another, wondering if he was really Ren Tsuruga or whether this was a trick that they were playing on them.

Kuon tried to smile although the cameras was flashing madly as more and more pictures were taken.

"Thank you to everyone for coming here and supporting me," he said to them and looked to see there were a few familiar faces out there in the crowd. He also was a little nervous when he saw someone in a black jacket and hat but he couldn't tell who it was. "I've decided that I wanted to come clean. I am Hizuri Kuon, but I am also Tsuruga Ren. Ren has taken me to many places in the acting world that Kuon couldn't. I owe him a lot. I also owe my family a lot for their support during this stage of my life. I once thought that I would only reveal myself to all of you when I was ready to start acting in America but," Kuon looked back to where Kyoko was, "there are more important things in life," he said as he turned towards the audience. Kyoko turned a deep red as he said that.

One of the reporters stood up, "Does this mean that you are retiring the name of Tsuruga Ren?" he asked, "another funeral like Hozu Shuuhei's?"

Kuon looked ahead of him. "I think that I would like to hold onto Tsuruga Ren for as long as I can. Many people have stage names and I think that this would help me focus on my work more than if I changed it."

Another reporter leaned forwards, "So, you can say that you are biologically related to Hizuri Kuu?" he asked and Kuon nodded.

"Yes, I am his son, his biological son," he corrected himself and he looked towards the man with blond hair. He hoped that wasn't Fuwa.

"And so you fled from your home country because you felt that you shamed him?" the reporter continued and Kuon choked. He wanted to protest but it was as if that small doubt inside of him had surfaced. He froze but the man with the blond hair took off his hat and went to the side of the stage.

"I am sorry to steal away the moment from my son," he said as he took off his glasses and Kuon smiled. Of course his dad would want to be here. He knew his father wanted to be supportive and that this wasn't, in his mind, a cheap stunt but it didn't matter. He could have his family with him in the future. "I am amazingly proud to be the father of this man. He is a better actor than I am. He is a hard-working and compassionate human being that I am truly honored to call my son," he said and Kuon grinned as he laughed into the microphone.

"Thanks, Dad" he said as more photographs were taken. Hopefully this was the best move forwards.

…

…..

 **One Year Later**

Kyoko smiled at her boyfriend as they held hands in Kyoto. Although Kuon sometimes took on acting projects abroad, he had decided to remain in Japan and everyone loved him. Despite not being fully Japanese, he had taken on the honor of being the Japanese acting ideal someone who was so much more beloved than his father, much to Kuu's happiness. It was nearing the time of the year when the two of them had met and Kuon had proposed a trip to Kyoto.

He held her hand and walked with her down a small path to the lake where they were as children. It had been such a good move to be honest, to come out about who he was and his past and that had strengthened his relationship with Kyoko as well.

As they got to the lake, Kyoko looked around to see the battery-operated candles and lots of flowers everywhere. This area was so precious to her because she had seen the true power of Corn but maybe it was in use for some festival.

As the moonlight shone upon them, Kuon walked towards the lake and Kyoko stood in front of him. Reaching down into his pocket for something, Kuon looked at her.

"Kyoko, you are the most amazing woman that I've ever met in my life. You are so strong and wise and funny and have made my life infinitely better. I wish to do the same thing for you," Kuon got down onto one knee.

"Kyoko-chan, there's only one question that I'll ask," he grinned to her,

"Will you marry me?"

 **End of Q and A**

 **Thank you so much for your support everybody, hope you enjoyed it all the way to the end**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Nine**

Brennakai, EmmaLasagna, Guest, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, ktoll9, Megumitasama, paulagato,


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